Saturday Veg’Zoom – Carrot

“I made a Carrot cake this afternoon can’t wait to eat it!”. Carrots have their name from Greek “καρότον” (karōton) and were known as a medical plant in Ancient Greece.

The history of carrots begins 2000-3000 BC but the modern orange carrots as we know them have been introduced to Europe via Spain by the Moors in the 8th century. Cultivated carrots appeared in China in the 14th century and in Japan in the 18th century. Carrots grow best in full sun but tolerate some shade. For this reason, in Greece, we can grow carrots nearly everywhere without difficulties and you will surely find organic carrots every day of its season on the markets. Most carrot cultivars are about 88% water, 7% sugar, 1% fiber, 1% ash, and 0.2% fat. The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange color mainly from its high proportion of β-carotene (partly metabolized into vitamin A in humans), but also from α-carotene and γ-carotene.